Saudi heir’s death opens door to younger voicesRIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — For the second time in less than a year, Saudi Arabia was thrown into the process of naming a new heir to the country’s 88-year-old king following the death Saturday of Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz. That forces a potentially pivotal decision: Whether to bring a younger generation a step closer to ruling one of the West’s most critical Middle East allies. King Abdullah has now outlived two designated successors,...

Japan OKs restart of 1st reactors since tsunamiTOKYO (AP) — Japan’s government on Saturday approved bringing the country’s first nuclear reactors back online since last year’s earthquake and tsunami led to a nationwide shutdown, going against wider public opinion that is opposed to nuclear power after Fukushima. The decision paves the way for a power company in western Japan to immediately begin work to restart two reactors in Ohi town, a process that is expected to take several weeks. Des...

Stage collapses before Radiohead concert; 1 deadTORONTO (AP) — A massive stage collapse hours before a Radiohead concert was to begin Saturday left one person dead and three others injured, officials said. Emergency Medical Services deputy commander David Viljakainen said a man who was trapped under the rubble was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials said he was in his mid-30s. A 45-year-old man was hospitalized with a head injury and two others were treated at the scene for minor injuri...

Hurricane Carlotta nears resorts on Mexican coastMEXICO CITY (AP) — Carlotta grew into a powerful Category 2 hurricane on Friday as it neared Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, where it is expected to brush the resort town of Puerto Escondido and then lash Acapulco. Authorities opened emergency shelters and tourists began leaving Puerto Escondido, a laid-back port popular with surfers. Hotel owners gathered up furniture and other potential flying objects in preparation for the hurricane, which...

Paraguay: 17 killed in violent land disputeASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — Paraguay deployed its army Friday to resolve a violent land dispute in a remote northern forest reserve after 17 people were killed in gunbattles between police and landless farmers. The clash prompted President Fernando Lugo to accept the resignations of his interior minister and his chief of police. The violence broke out as police tried to evict about 150 farmers from the reserve, which is part of a huge estate own...

Syria observer chief says violence derails missionBEIRUT (AP) — The head of the U.N. observers in Syria said Friday a spike in bloodshed is derailing the mission to monitor and defuse more than a year of violence, raising questions about how effective the unarmed force can be in a conflict that every day looks more like a civil war. The troubles facing the observer mission are the latest sign that an international peace plan for Syria is disintegrating. Western powers have pinned their hopes ...

China sending first woman in space to test moduleJIUQUAN, China (AP) — China will send its first woman and two other astronauts into space Saturday to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming only the third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit. Liu Yang, a 34-year-old air force pilot, and two male colleagues will be launched Saturday aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, which will dock with the bus-sized Tiangong 1 space module now orbiting at 343 ...

After 21 years, Suu Kyi finally reaches Nobel homeOSLO, Norway (AP) — It has taken more than two decades, countless lonely nights and imponderable hardships for Aung San Suu Kyi to reach the Oslo podium. But Myanmar’s celebrated former political prisoner is finally getting the chance to make her case for the Nobel Peace Prize. Suu Kyi landed in the Norwegian capital and home for the world’s greatest diplomatic honor Friday, a day ahead of a speech that many thought she would never be permitte...

Last fugitive caught in ’95 Japan nerve gas attackTOKYO (AP) — His trail cold for years, the last fugitive suspected in a doomsday cult’s deadly nerve gas attack on Tokyo’s subways in 1995 was caught at a comic book cafe Friday, closing a chapter on Japan’s worst terrorist attack. He had altered his appearance and reportedly used a fake name and avoided meeting people to evade arrest, but Katsuya Takahashi admitted who he was when approached by police at the cafe in downtown Tokyo. The former...

Colombia’s legendary police chief heads to MexicoBOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A signature trophy that Gen. Oscar Naranjo has carefully displayed in glass at Police Intelligence headquarters is odd by any measure: the neatly folded uniform of a rebel commander slain in 2008, clearly showing the holes from the shrapnel that killed him. The four-star general, who retired as Colombia’s police director this week, is proud of that and the others that line a hallway at the Police Intelligence Directorat...

Colombia’s legendary police chief heads to MexicoBOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A signature trophy that Gen. Oscar Naranjo has carefully displayed in glass at Police Intelligence headquarters is odd by any measure: the neatly folded uniform of a rebel commander slain in 2008, clearly showing the holes from the shrapnel that killed him. The four-star general, who retired as Colombia’s police director this week, is proud of that and the others that line a hallway at the Police Intelligence Directorat...

Egypt’s Brotherhood pins hopes on presidencyCAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood pinned its hopes Friday on weekend elections to salvage its waning political fortunes, responding to a court order dissolving its power base in parliament by urging voters to support the Islamist group’s candidate for president. The runoff vote set for Saturday and Sunday pits Ahmed Shafiq, a military-rooted strongman promising a firm hand to ensure stability, against Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi...

Central banks stand ready on eve of Greek voteFRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — On the eve of Greek elections, Europe’s central bankers are hoping to avert a financial panic by signaling their readiness to support banks. At the same time, the head of the European Central Bank is calling on nations to pursue steps that could eventually boost economic growth, such as easing corporate regulations. For now, the stresses gripping Europe from its debt crisis are tightening. Governments are struggling t...

Egypt court dissolves Islamist-led parliamentCAIRO (AP) — Judges appointed by Hosni Mubarak dissolved the Islamist-dominated parliament Thursday and ruled his former prime minister eligible for the presidential runoff election this weekend — setting the stage for the military and remnants of the old regime to stay in power. The politically charged rulings dealt a heavy blow to the fundamentalist Islamic Brotherhood, with one senior member calling the decisions a “full-fledged coup,” and ...

OPEC to keep 30-million barrel output targetVIENNA (AP) — OPEC oil ministers agreed Thursday to keep their production target steady, in a compromise meant to defuse rivalries between Iran and Saudi Arabia and to send a soothing message to economically troubled consuming nations. Oil prices have fallen more than 20 percent over the past two months, and a statement from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries citied “downside risks facing the global economy” and ample stocks...

Smell of death greets UN monitors in Syrian townBEIRUT (AP) — Smoldering buildings, looted shops, smashed cars and a strong stench of death greeted U.N. observers who entered the nearly deserted Syrian town of Haffa on Thursday, a day after President Bashar Assad’s forces overran it as part of a major offensive to recover rebel-controlled territories. The monitors had been trying to get into the town for a week after fears were raised that a brutal assault by regime forces was under way. Th...

Afghan neighbors join forces to tackle problemsKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan and regional heavyweights agreed Thursday to work together to fight terrorism and drug-trafficking and pursue economic development — a formidable agenda in a neighborhood fraught with power struggles and rivalries. The Afghan government played host to 14 other countries in the region, a peculiar role for a nation at war for more than three decades. The issues they discussed were not new. What is new is tha...

Argentina’s president presses claim to FalklandsUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Argentina’s president took her country’s claim to the Falkland Islands to the United Nations on Thursday, challenging Britain in a highly emotional speech to “act more intelligently” and sit down to talk about the future of the tiny archipelago. President Cristina Fernandez chose to appear at the annual meeting of the little-known U.N. Decolonization Committee on the 30th anniversary of Britain’s ouster of an Argentine in...

Europe crisis spreads as Merkel resists big stepsMILAN (AP) — A growing number of European countries are being squeezed by a financial vise just days before a Greek election that could escalate the region’s political and economic turmoil. The rise of Italian and Spanish borrowing costs to alarming levels Thursday heaped pressure on leaders to prevent Europe’s debt crisis from engulfing its largest countries. No grand solution appears imminent. German Chancellor Angela Merkel opposes solution...

UN observers in Syria attacked near besieged townBEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. accused Russia of escalating the Syrian conflict by sending attack helicopters to President Bashar Assad's regime, and U.N. observers were attacked Tuesday with stones, metal rods and gunfire that blocked them from a besieged rebel-held town where civilians were feared trapped by government shelling. The accusation by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that Moscow was arming the Assad regime came as the top U...